After an expulsion and a lengthy 5 year battle, the Jerusalem District Court finally made a ruling on “Beit Hashalom” in Hebron. Judge Baram ordered the State to prepare to return the building to its rightful Jewish owners.
In 2007, the building was purchased from its Arab owners.
At the time, the Arab sellers, despite being secretly videotaped, denied the transaction had ever been completed once they realized the buyers were Jews who purchased the building through an intermediary.
In 2008, the army forcibly evicted the Jewish residents until the court would decide who owned the building.
Hebron residents are hoping this is the first step in the return of other buildings they’ve purchased and were evicted from by the government and IDF.
Nachi Eyal, CEO of the Forum for the Land of Israel welcomed the court’s decision and that the purchase of the house was legal. He added, “The Minister of Defense and representatives of the State Prosecutor need to apologize and compensate the owners in Hebron.”
Despite the conclusions of the court, Yariv Oppenheimer, head of Peace Now, called on Ehud Barak to not let the Jews back into the building.